Quan Zhou
of the White Scars.]] Quan Zhou is the fortress-monastery of the White Scars Space Marine Chapter located on their Chapter homeworld of Chogoris. History Mundus Planus, better known to its people as Chogoris, is a fertile Feudal World of the Imperium that still exists in a semi-feudal, pre-industrial state. When Jaghatai Khan departed on the Great Crusade, the unified empire he had carved from the nomadic peoples of his world dissolved back into the feuding tribes of horsemen that had existed before his arrival. This was believed by some in the White Scars Legion to be the intention of the Primarch, as the restoration of conflict between the steppe tribes ensured that his Legion would have a supply of highly-skilled Neophytes to draw from the warring tribes in the future. The White Scars are every bit the product of the wild steppes of Chogoris. As with many Space Marine homeworlds, the people there remain in the state that made them such a perfect recruitment source, and the warring tribes have never been properly united since the time of the Great Khan. The tribes live exactly as they have for countless generations, roaming the steppes following great herds of gargantuan grazers as dictated by the cycle of the seasons. Prior to the coming of Jaghatai Khan, the Chogorians were a divided people, the planet subject to the oppressive rule of the city-dwellers. Though these were conquered by the young Primarch, he saw that to establish his people in those same cities would ultimately lead to the end of all that made them what they were. Instead, only one city was left standing -- Quan Zhou -- a glittering palace of marble high atop the Khum Karta Mountains. This city-sized fortress-monastery, the ancient palace of the Khagan himself, is the abode of the White Scars, and it is said that within its towering walls is an entire forest teeming with game. The winding valley pass that leads to the fortress-monastery's great adamantium gates is lined with the severed heads of countless defeated foes, and the feasting halls within its marbled walls are heavily hung with a great wealth of trophies taken by the White Scars' heroes from a thousand battlefields. The interior of the walls are said to contain flowing rivers and forests running with game, which the Khans hunt for sport. Quan Zhou is the spiritual home of the White Scars Chapter, and it is truly a formidable and magnificent sight to behold. Like all Astartes fortress-monasteries, Quan Zhou is armoured and void-shielded to withstand any siege or bombardment that might befall it. Armed to repel attackers from land, air or space, its walls bristle with enough heavy ordnance to flatten a hive city. Every aerial approach to the fortress-monastery is overlooked by Icarus Pattern Lascannons, and a Macro-laser known to the White Scars as Khan's Fury stands like a spear of vengeance to lance space-borne enemies from the heavens. The fortress-monastery's Librarius is a lightning-wracked spire where the Chapter's Librarians, often referred to as Stormseers, study their lore and chronicle the deeds of the Khans. They also preside over the Chapter's Astropaths as they relay psychic messages throughout the void, communing with the greater Imperium and those White Scars Brotherhoods hunting across the galaxy. The White Scars live apart from their people, descending down to the steppes only once in a standard decade to observe the wars between the tribes and to choose potential recruits for the Chapter. The constant warring ensures that the people remain strong, though the White Scars have to be vigilant that such feuds are not retained as Aspirants or when they become Neophytes and Neophyte Initiates. Another manner in which Aspirants are chosen is by way of the tradition of youngsters entering the mountains to pay homage at the tomb of a fallen White Scar. Such pilgrimages are perilous in the extreme, and simply surviving one is a great deed in itself that may, if the pilgrim is deemed worthy, see them granted a place in the ranks of the Chapter's Aspirants. Because the tribes from which the White Scars recruit are so attuned to the land and the seasons of their world, the Chapter's Battle-Brothers have an intrinsic empathy with their environment. Wherever they go, they are able to read the soil beneath their feet and the air in their lungs and gain an instant understanding of how best to fight in such places. Though Chogoris is a land of wide-open steppes punctuated by mighty forests and towering mountains, the enhanced physiology of the Adeptus Astartes multiplies the Chogorians' deep-seated understanding of the land and turns it into an all but preternatural awareness. As a result, the White Scars can use every element of any natural environment as an ally, whether speeding over a sparse desert expanse or tracking a foe through the vine-choked glades of an alien Death World. It has been observed that many White Scars are ill at ease amongst entirely manufactured environments such as hive cities and void stations, yearning to breathe natural air and feel earth beneath their feet, but as Space Marines, this is simply a matter of preference and no detriment to their fearsome battlefield capabilities. Sources *''Codex: Space Marines'' (6th Edition), pg. 37 *''Codex Supplement: White Scars'' (8th Edition), pp. 9-10 *''Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pp. 27-28 *''Index Asartes I, "Lightning Attack - The White Scars Space Marines Chapter" es:Quan Zhou Category:Q Category:Imperium Category:Space Marines Category:White Scars